HCC Weekly - May 18th, 2026

May 18th

Pastor Joy

In Judges 13-15 we hear of one of Israel’s judges, Samson. When I was a little girl, my cousins and I would put on plays for our families whenever we were together for big gatherings. One of these plays was the story of Samson and Delilah. So, I grew up thinking how awesome and heroic Samson was. My perspective was simply that God used Samson as a mighty warrior to defeat the enemies of Israel. Now, I wasn’t completely wrong. God does use Samson to defeat Israel’s enemies, but Samson is far from perfect. He is prideful, vengeful, and full of conceit. A sinner, just like you and me.

“In God’s complexity, He empowers sinful people with wicked motives to accomplish His righteous plan. He uses Samson’s pride and rage to defeat Israel’s enemy. When God’s Spirit empowers Samson to do something, He’s not endorsing Samson’s sin, but sometimes He’s using Samson’s sinfulness to defeat a greater enemy. Anytime God uses sinners (any of us), something is bound to be off track in us, but praise God, our sinful motives and actions aren’t big enough to ruin His plan. He factored all that in! He uses us despite ourselves and even brings us joy in the process. He’s where the joy is!” From The Bible Recap, day 94, the God Shot by Tara Leigh Cobble.